


Jacket

by neguse



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Rule 63
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-01
Updated: 2016-09-01
Packaged: 2018-08-12 08:56:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7928599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neguse/pseuds/neguse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s not until an especially cold morning in the last week of the month that she finally gives in to the winter chill and decides that she <i>needs</i> to start wearing her jacket. Nazuna pulls it out of her closet, exactly where it’s been sitting for the past 6 months or so, and pushes her arms through the sleeves to pull it up around her shoulders. </p>
<p>Well, she tries to, at least.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Jacket

**Author's Note:**

> me: can u beta this shunazu for me when u wake up  
> hatoe: yeah, ofc  
> me:  
> me: posts it unbeta'd anyway
> 
> who is kiryu kuro? when does it start getting cold in japan?? i have no idea, im just ur average australian shunazu enthusiast

Winter rolls in fast this year- almost _too_ fast, if you were to ask Nazuna. She notices more and more people starting to wear their blue jackets with their uniforms every day, everybody has different tolerances to how cold it is, after all, some people feeling the chill easily, and others seemingly more than happy to sit around in a mostly frozen water fountain for hours every day.

It’s the middle of November when Nazuna decides to change out her short sleeved school shirt for one with longer sleeves, and the next week she starts wearing her usual cardigan over the top of that too.

It’s not until an especially cold morning in the last week of the month that she finally gives in to the winter chill and decides that she _needs_ to start wearing her jacket. Nazuna pulls it out of her closet, exactly where it’s been sitting for the past 6 months or so, and pushes her arms through the sleeves to pull it up around her shoulders.

Well, she tries to, at least.

The sleeves definitely felt much tighter than they were before, she was barely able to lift her arms, and they ended nowhere near her wrists. Not that she ever wore it buttoned, but attempting to do that proved fruitless, too.

Nazuna sighed, had she really grown this much since she last wore it? Okay, sure, it was starting to get a _little_ on the small side back then too, but what can you expect from a piece of your uniform that you’ve owned since you were a first year…? She’d bought a couple of sizes up for this exact reason! Nazuna pulled on the sleeves in an attempt to take it off again, thinking that maybe her cardigan added a bit of bulk and that she should try without it, but instead heard the very distinct sound of fabric ripping.

This was just perfect. Not only was her jacket too small, but now the (admittedly, old and worn) fabric was torn straight down the back. Whatever, there’s only 5 months left until she graduates, Nazuna decides she’ll be fine without a jacket and doesn’t need to spend more money than necessary on something she’ll hardly use.

By this point it’s almost two weeks into December and Nazuna is seriously beginning to question her decisions, but her own stubbornness always comes out on top. Any time somebody asks her if she’s cold, the small girl would just brush it off by saying something along the lines of not being able to feel the cold.

One look at the girl though and Shu could tell that she was lying through gritted teeth- literally. More often than not Nazuna would be found standing pigeon toed, hands gripping at her upper arms and her entire posture curled in on itself, it’s almost amazing that she wasn’t constantly sitting balled up in some corner in an attempt to keep warm.

She decides to intercept Kuro on her way out of 3-B’s classroom after school, being the first of her acquaintances to exit, latching on to the slightly taller girls sleeve and all but dragging her up to the rooftop.

“I-Icchan? What’s going on- are you dragging me up here to confess your love or something? You know you’re meant to leave a note in my shoe locker first, right?”

“Ry-- Kiryu, you absolute brute! Of course not, I’m not interested in the likes of you!”

Kuro laughed at Shu’s expression, pouting like a little kid and the tips of her ears burning red. “Right, right. You really are into girls that look like they’re in middle school, after all.”

Shu was ready to turn around and leave then and there, Ryuu-chan really was such an insolent being! Maybe she could go hunt down Rei or Wataru instead, but decided that since she’s gotten this far, Kuro may as well be the one she talks to.

“I’m concerned about Nito.”

“Her school uniform, right?” Kuro scratched the back of her head, tousling the short strands of hair. “Yeah I asked her about it, said she finally outgrew her jacket.”

“And you didn’t offer to make her a new one?”

“Nah, I did, she turned me down though. Said I’ve already got my hands full with stage costumes for Akatsuki as well as Ryuseitai and 2wink, on top of helping Hajime out with Ra*bits… She didn’t want to be a burden.”

“She is being a burden like this _too_ , making me worry about her so much!” Shu shrieked, turning to grasp the door handle to leave the rooftop. “I suppose I’ll just have to take matters into my own hands, then.”

“What about Valkyrie’s costumes?”

“Hmph, this won’t take long. Kagehira and I are only two people, anyway.” With that, Shu pulled the door closed behind herself, leaving Kuro alone on the rooftop.

 

* * *

 

Of course, it’s not like Shu was unfamiliar with fabricating replicas of Yumenosaki’s idol course uniform. Both her and Ryuu-chan had something of a business, sewing and selling high quality imitations of it to poorer students and outsiders wanting to get into private campus performances for free.

Nodding to herself, Shu pulled the pattern for the jacket from the plastic sleeve of a binder where all her patterns are kept, cross referencing the numbers noted down on the paper with the numbers floating in her head- Nazuna’s measurements, memorised from when she would frequently be making stage costumes for her. _Based on these, Nito would be…_ Shu’s hand reached for the pattern marked with an S, before halting it, _no, no, she’s clearly grown since then,_ and moving it to the one marked with an M instead.

Yes, this should do. Sure it might be a touch too big on her tiny frame, but having the knowledge that her precious Nito wouldn’t be freezing all the way through winter helped to somewhat soothe Shu’s anxious disposition.

Talented fingers quickly set to work, pinning the pattern to fabric and swiftly cutting around the shapes, opting for a thicker lining for extra warmth- _the official jackets are so thin, surely Nito would appreciate this much more._ Once everything had been cut and the appropriate pieces pinned together, Shu glanced up at the clock. It was late, she’d have to sew it using her machine instead of by hand, and even then it wouldn’t be finished until the hands of the clock were on the other side of midnight, but she was determined to have it ready as soon as she could.

Just as she’d gotten the machine threaded and the first of the pieces ready to be pulled through it, Shu heard the door to her work room creak slightly. “What is it Kagehira, can you not see I am busy?”

“Er, well,” Mika was playing with the hems of her sleeves, Shu knew her well enough to tell without having to turn and look at her. “Oshi-san, ‘s gettin’ kinda late, d’ya wanna come t’ bed or nah…?”

“I’d prefer to have this finished tonight if I could, you can go on without me.” Shu turned her head to look over at Mika, hair damp and dressed in her pyjamas. “We will be leaving earlier than usual tomorrow, make sure you get plenty of rest. I don’t need you ending up in the nurse’s office to nap your mistake off.”

“Oh? We gunna have a longer mornin’ practice?”

“No, I have to deliver something, and I’d much rather do it while nobody else is around.”

Clearly this interested Mika, now leaning up against the doorframe with a smug grin plastered over her face. “Ooooh~ ‘s it a love letter? Ya gonna confess to somebody? ‘S okay though, if there’s anybody ‘round I can jes’ drop it in for ya.”

“I-it’s nothing of the sort!” Shu all but squawked, quickly turning back to her sewing machine in an effort to try and hide her reddened face from Mika. “However I… will take you up on that offer, if I need to.”

“No problem Oshi-san~ G’night, don’t stay up too late, ‘kay?”

“I shan’t. Sleep well, Kagehira.”

Shu heard the door click shut, Mika having taken her leave. She exhaled softly, clearing her head before pressing forward and beginning to sew the jacket together.

 

* * *

 

“Oshi-san, I know ya said that we’d be leavin’ early, but-” Mika let out a yawn, almost as if to accentuate what she was saying, “isn’t this kinda too early…?”

Shu clicked her tongue, clutching the neatly folded jacket closer to her chest. “Like I said, I don’t want anybody to be around to see. You know what teenage girls are like, with their rumours and gossiping and such.” Looking at Mika though, she looked absolutely exhausted. She was still awake when Shu retired to their shared bedroom, which had only been about 3 hours prior to them waking up and getting ready for the day.

Shu felt a pang of guilt- though she’d never admit it- at inadvertantly keeping Mika awake for so long, especially after offering her somewhere to live in order to avoid the long trip from Kansai each morning. “If you wish, I’ll allow you to sleep in the practice room until the usual starting time. If your movements end up sluggish as a result though I will not hesitate to remove you as part of Valkyrie.”

Mika beamed, Shu’s harsher words clearly having no effect on her at this point. “Thank ya Oshi-san~ I’ll go on ahead, ‘kay?” Shu nodded as Mika parted from her, heading to her own shoe locker.

She was right in thinking nobody would be here this early in the morning, leaving her to calm herself before seeking out the familiar characters of Nazuna’s name. Once she found the correct locker, Shu swiftly opened the door and neatly placed the jacket on top of Nazuna’s small uwabaki, before closing the door once again in hopes that it didn’t look like it had been disturbed. She did consider leaving a small note with the jacket, but decided against it, something like this would be better done anonymously right…?

 

* * *

 

To say that Nazuna is confused when she opens her locker to change her shoes that morning is… somewhat of an understatement. She’s _incredibly_ confused, and for good reason-- there’s a jacket in there! She _swears_ hers is at home, no, she _knows_ it is, left hanging untouched over the back of a chair in her room. She pulls it out and unfolds it, it seems to be about her size so maybe it belongs to one of the first years, maybe Tori or Shinobu mistook her locker for theirs? It couldn’t be Hajime’s, they’d left the school together last night and the first year was definitely wearing hers at the time. Even then though, why would a first year be over by the third years’ lockers in the first place?

Not to mention, it seemed clean, and in pristine condition- as if it had never even been tried on. Tentatively, Nazuna lifted the garment up to her face and sniffed the fabric. Suddenly everything fell into place, recognising the lingering perfume. _Itsuki_ , she smiled, standing to her feet. _Of course somebody like Itsuki would be behind this._ Nazuna threaded her arms through the sleeves and shrugged the jacket up into place around her shoulders, before turning and making her way to the practice room that Shu always books for Valkyries morning training.

It takes no time to arrive to the door, lightly tapping her knuckles on the dark wood. It isn’t long before it swings open to reveal mismatched eyes from the inside. “Ah, g’mornin’ Nazuna-nee! S’there somethin’ ya need?” Mika squints, bending down slightly to make her gaze level with the smaller girls. “Or are ya here ta challenge Valkyrie to a live?”

Nazuna giggles, hiding her mouth behind her hand. “Nothing like that, I just wanna talk to Itsuki for a minute, if that’s alright..?” She leaned around Mika to look at Shu, the taller girl’s heart fluttering and swelling in her chest upon seeing Nazuna wearing the jacket she’d sewn for her only hours prior.

Shu nodded, collecting Mademoiselle from her stand and closing the door behind herself as she joined Nazuna in the hall. The smaller girl pondered how she should go about this topic, deciding to make it seem like she had no idea Shu was the one responsible for the jacket in her locker.

“You’ve been here for a while right, Itsuki?”

_“Yes we have~ Shu-chan is such a good girl isn’t she, working hard every day! She’s very happy to see that you’re wearing something warmer today too, Nazuna-chan~”_ Shu was afraid that Mademoiselle would reveal that she was the person behind the jacket, the meddlesome doll already gave away that she’d been watching Nito enough to notice her without one in the first place.

“Did you see anybody messing around with my locker? I found this in there when I opened it.”

_“Well, you see, it w--”_ Shu covered the doll’s mouth with her free hand, as if it would trick her brain to making it so that she would be the one talking from here on out.

“I haven’t the slightest idea of who put the jacket in there, Kagehira and I left the area long before anybody else arrived.” Shu looked down, seemingly finding the gap between two floorboards more interesting than anything else. “Maybe you should just accept it and forget about ever finding out who the culprit is.”

“Hmm… Yeah, maybe it’ll become one of the Seven Mysteries of Yumenosaki? A kind ghost who leaves clothes for cold girls in winter.” Nazuna giggled, the angelic sound causing Shu to lift her head and look at the smaller girl. “Anyway, I gotta go… Ra*bits practice and all.”

Shu expected her to simply walk away, but instead Nazuna’s hands threaded around the back of her neck, using the taller girl as leverage to hoist herself up onto her toes and leave a chaste kiss, whispering a _thank you_ against her lips before taking off down the hall.

 

* * *

 

Come the end of the day, Shu opened her locker to change back to her outside shoes, only to find a brown paper bag sitting on top of them. Opening it she found two croissants and a small note on rabbit printed paper, causing her to smile to herself.

_A gift from a kind ghost_ ♡


End file.
